It’s Wednesday and it’s time for the Wednesday Word link up, hosted by Debbie! Each week Deb provides a word prompt for us to write about. This week’s word is adventurous. Be sure to click on the button below to join in with the link up and to see who else is linking up today!

I’m going to keep is short and simple today. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I guess that means this picture is worth 1,019 words… or 981 if the quote detracts from the initial thousand. Now I’m getting off topic.

Dr. Seuss was a very wise man and ‘Oh, The Places You’ll Go!’ is one of his best books. There are a lot of messages in those pages. This particular Seuss book teaches us about the necessity for positive thinking. Everyone goes through good and bad times, but success depends on how you handle the things that happen that you cannot control. In the end, you hold your destiny in your own hands and you were made to do the impossible. But the only way to get started is to get out there, be adventurous, and see what you can achieve.

What does adventurous mean to you?

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter yesterday! This past Saturday Barry and I ran the Montvale 10 Mile trail race. It was a fun day out on the trails and another great Mountain Junkies event.

The race started at 9 AM, and it’s about an hour and 15 minutes away, so we didn’t have a super early wake up call as race mornings go. We arrived at Montvale Park a little after 8:15 AM and picked up our bibs, race shirts, and race packets. After getting ready to run, Barry and I made our way over to the park pavilion for the always-entertaining prerace meeting from Josh.

Side note: Josh and his wife Gina are the guru’s behind Mountain Junkies LLC, which puts on a series of trail races in the spring called the Non-Ultra Roanoke Trail Seires or ‘RNUTS’. Last year I participated in the RNUTS (six races ranging from 5K to marathon) and had a blast. This year I only plan to do two of the races – Montvale 10 Miler and  Conquer the Cove 25K. 

After the prerace meeting we walked over to the race start. To get there we crossed a skinny, bouncy bridge over the creek. Towards the end of the race, we would run back across this bridge. Last year it was a bit precarious because it was wet, muddy, and super slippery, but this year it was just bouncy and fun. Just after 9 AM we were on our way!

The temperature was in the high 40’s/low 50’s and cloudy – just about perfect running weather in my book. I hope it’s like that in two weeks at my 50K! The first mile starts out flat and then starts climbing gradually after that. I felt really good and just tried to run relaxed.

Just before mile two we ran through a water stop. I had my hydration pack, so I just cruised on through.

One thing I love about this race is how the trail winds through the woods with lots of switchbacks. Especially early on in the race, you can see runners going every which way in the woods. It looks really neat! You may see someone who appears to be just ahead or just behind you, but they are usually at least a half mile to mile ahead/behind. An added bonus this year is that the trails were in excellent condition. Much faster than last year’s ‘Montvale Mudfest’. The course doesn’t really have any major hills, but it’s basically never flat. You’re either going up or going down the whole time.

Just after mile 2 I made a new friend, KT. She was running right behind me and we had spoken a few times back and forth early on. As we started the nice downhill section after the water stop, we really got chatty. It was fun talking to her as we ran along. Around this time we started getting passed by the front runners of the 5 miler, which started 10 minutes after the 10 miler. The 5 mile and 10 mile courses run together for the first 4.5 miles or so before splitting. From mile two until the split KT and I had to pull over to the side of the trail many times to let faster runners pass. I didn’t mind, but I was glad when we got to the split!

As we approached mile 4 my breathing was getting more and more labored. KT and I were still running together and she asked if I was alright. I told her that I was, and that I was just still recovering from having the flu last week. I also have mild exercise-induced asthma, which has been exacerbated by this flu recovery. It was a bit frustrating for me, because my legs felt great. My lungs were not having it, though, and I started taking short walk breaks on the hills. I used my inhaler, which I had also used prerace, between miles 4 and 5. I haven’t had to use it since the end of last summer but I definitely needed it on Saturday.

Just after mile 5, as we began another long gradual climb, KT and I split up. She asked me if I wanted her to stick with me but I told her to run her own race and I’d see her at the finish. I would have loved to stay with her the whole race! We were well-matched pace wise and I was really enjoying the conversation. Oh well. My heart rate data from the race definitely reflects the struggle with my lungs, as I spent most of the race in Zone 5 – above 170 bpm. I need stay the heck away from Zone 5 and stay in the aerobic zone (Zone 3, roughly 130-150 bpm) during my ultra.

From mile 5 on, I ran on my own. I passed through the same water stop again (this time just after mile 6, I think). The miles ticked off and before I knew it I was approaching mile 9. As I came up a hill, I looked up to see Barry. Per usual, he had come back to collect me and run me in.

The final mile went by pretty quick. In what seemed like no time, we arrived back and the creek and ran across the bouncy bridge (Barry was behind me and made sure to bounce extra as we crossed!). We then ran through the muddiest section on the race course- the grassy trail connecting the wooded trails to the paved track at the park. I ran along the track towards the pavilion and across the finish line.

I finished the race in 2:04:59. Not a great time for me, but it was better than I expected. I hadn’t run more than 3 miles at a time in the past two weeks, as I recover from the flu, so I really had no idea how this race was going to go. Although I struggled with my lungs, I was happy to find my legs felt so good this race.

Barry and I hung out in the pavilion postrace. They had the usual, fabulous Mountain Junkies postrace food spread (fruit, bagels, chocolate, hummus, crackers, veggies, homemade pumpkin bread, and homemade cookies). I wasn’t feeling super hungry and just grabbed a few crackers and half a banana.

There was a door prize drawing  going on and I won a new fleece hat! Barry also won and got a new buff. I was feeling a bit chilled at the end of the race, so I was glad to have that fleece hat to put on. I also snagged third place in my age group (although full disclosure: there were only three total in my age group 😉 ). Barry ran a great race, finishing in 1:25:42, which was good for fourth out of eleven in his age group. As it turned out, third place was the guy who sprinted past Barry right at the finish line, clinching third by a mere 4 tenths of a second.

This race reminded me of how much I really love being out in the woods on the trails. Although I have enjoyed my trail runs throughout training, I always feel a bit on edge and worry because of that dog incident in December. I’m still aware of my surroundings during a race, of course, but I feel like I can just relax and enjoy myself.

Although it’s a bit worrisome that I had such a rough time with my lungs during the race, this race did get me really excited for the TNF ECS 50K. I can only hope that I will be fully recovered from the flu in the next two weeks. I can’t wait to get out there on April 9 to push myself, and take on this new challenge on the trails!

This race recap is part of the Weekly Wrap link up, hosted by MissSippiPiddlin’ and HoHo Runs.

Who else raced this past weekend?
Do you make friends during races? I always seem to 🙂

About two weeks ago, we brought home fourteen one-day-old baby chicks! They currently live in a brooder box (aka a cardboard box with wood shavings) under a heat lamp in our garage.

Eight of them are pullets (females) and six are straight run (may be male or female…we will find out as they grow). I’m excited to be adding to our flock, which is currently three years old and not laying eggs as frequently as they used to. We used to get one egg per chicken per day, but now a days we are only getting one egg per day from the flock. I told Barry each morning the chickens draw straws to see who has to lay that day. 🙂

Speaking of the old flock, we are sadly down from six chickens to four. We lost two recently to illness and injury. We had a necropsy done on the first bird to make sure it wasn’t anything that would affect the rest of the flock and it wasn’t (she died from air saculitis and salpingitis – an infection in the air sacs in the chest cavity that spread to the oviducts). The second chicken passed away after she hurt her leg and basically failed to thrive. So our flock was getting pretty small. Chickens do well in larger groups, so it was definitely time to bring in some new blood.

I’m not going to go into all of the nitty gritty details of raising chicks, because I did that last time in my Chick Days series. Check that out if you’re interested in that stuff! I’ve already referred to it a few times to see how we handled certain things the last go around.

I forgot how much fun it is to raise baby chicks. They’re a lot of work, but they grow and change so quickly. In only just two weeks most of them have gone from being fuzz-covered to having nearly fully-feathered wings and a few tail feathers. By five weeks they will be fully feathered.

The last time we raised chicks, we were able to move them into them into the chicken coop once they had all of their feathers, right around five weeks old. They were so awkward and funny looking back then!

This time we are going to have to wait a little longer to introduce the new chicks to the existing flock. They have to be large enough to defend themselves and fit in with the big girls. I have read several articles about how to successfully introduce new birds to a flock, and I have a game plan that I hope will work out. As the chicks grow we are going to allow the new flock to be exposed to them over several weeks in neutral areas (I’ll go into more details when we actually do this).

When it finally comes time to add the new members of the flock, our best bet will be to put them on the roosting poles at night. The idea being that our current flock will wake up in the morning and go “Huh, look at all these new birds. I guess I’ve never noticed them up until this point but they’re clearly part of my group.” Things almost never go as planned with the chickens, but we will see!

Have you ever raised chicks?

I’m linking up today with Debbie for her Wednesday Word link up. This week’s word is faithful and as usual her weekly word fits perfectly into what I’ve currently got going on in life. Click on the button below to join in on the link up and to see who else is linking up.

Last week I came down with the flu and missed my entire second peak week. I had plans to run about 45 miles, culminating in a 16/10 mile back-to-back long run weekend. Instead I found myself struggling to complete a 30 minute walk/run.

As I recover from the flu and work just to get back into a regular routine, I have to try and not panic over lost training. But my first ultramarathon is just seventeen days away, so I’m a bit freaked out. The rational part of me says now is the time to focus on getting back into the swing of things and let the missed training go. I feel like most of this training cycle has been fairly rocky, but I have done some good work up to this point. Come race day I need to have faith in my training and my ability to do hard things.

On another note, also related to faith, here is one of my favorite quotes from KS:

If you’ve ever stood somewhere along a marathon course, particularly close to the finish line, you’ll know exactly what she’s talking about. With all of the bad stuff going on in today’s world, particularly in our own country, it’s easy to lose faith in people. Life is complicated but in order to have an outlook for the future that’s worthwhile, you’ve got to find a way to keep the faith.

How do you keep the faith?

Well, this past week was pretty much a bust. But in keeping with tradition, I’m recapping what little there is to recap. In last week’s training recap, I mentioned that I was feeling alright Sunday morning but by Sunday evening I was feeling pretty sick. The truth of it is that by Sunday evening I felt like I’d been hit by a truck: my whole body hurt, I felt exhausted, I had chills, a headache, and a bad cough. As it turns out, I had come down with the flu. I missed an entire week of work and my entire week of training. So this recap barely qualifies for the Weekly Wrap linkup, hosted by HoHo Runs and MissSippiPiddlin’, since the point of the link up is to recap something active you did. Here’s what I’ve got….

Monday – Friday: Rest. I was battling the flu the whole week and basically spent my entire week sleeping and resting. I also developed a sinus infection on top of the flu on Thursday, but I went to the doctor and am on antibiotics for that now. My biggest accomplishment these five days was taking a shower, and that didn’t even happen every day.

My fever broke by Thursday morning, thank goodness. And a lot of the exhaustion and aches were gone by Friday. My doctor said I could start easing back into things on Saturday but that I needed to pay attention to how I was feeling and not push it.

Saturday – 25 minute walk/run on the treadmill (1 minute run/2 minute walk intervals), followed by 5 minutes of walking at incline for about two miles total. A far cry from the 16 miles I had on my schedule, but it’s going to take a bit of time to get back into things. It felt really good to get my legs moving, but I was so tired after my workout I needed a nap and then slept for nearly 12 hours Saturday night.

Sunday – 30 minute walk/run on the treadmill (2 minute run/2 minute walk intervals), followed by 5 minutes of walking at incline. This time I was able to get in just over 2.5 miles. I originally had 10 miles scheduled. I did find that a run followed by a hot shower helps with congestion.

As of this morning I’m almost back to normal. I’m still dealing with a lot of chest and sinus congestion, but my energy levels are returning. This coming week of training is going to be about easing back into things and working my way back to a normal routine. I still plan to do my 10 mile trail race on Saturday, but I don’t know yet what my approach will be. My overall goal at this point is just to get back into the regular swing of things hopefully by the end of next week. Unfortunately, there can often be lingering lung effects from the flu, so I’m just going to have to take things day by day and see how it goes.

Have you ever had the flu during training? How was your recovery?
Tell me something good from your week.